Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

Fish Frenzy

Agent – Sam
Age – 14
Destination – Patagonia, South America
Mission – Find and film a giant bait ball

Sam is packed off to South Wales in search of expert advice on spotting dolphins in a bid to help the life team film a bait ball (shoal of fish) out at sea. Spanish-speaking Sam has no inkling that his language skills will be needed to complete his assignment in Patagonia.

How has your experience reporting for inside life changed you?
I used to watch nature programs like Planet Earth, and I found them breathtakingly amazing but I didn't realise just how much it took to capture five seconds. Inside Life has opened my eyes to wildlife in a way I couldn't have possibly imagined, I thought I knew lots about wildlife but I was barely scraping the surface!

What was your scariest moment?
It was scary when we went up in a tiny four-seater plane to look for whales along the coastline. The take-off was one of the scariest moments, and I was holding on to my seat for dear life and it didn't help that the wind was blowing us off course! However the views from up there were amazing and I realised this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I tried to enjoy every moment – no matter how turbulent.

What was your most exciting moment?
There are so many moments – when we came face to face with amazing animals on the trip but, for me, the most exciting moment was when we heard that there was a whale in the bay. We ran outside and there was a crowd of people all rushing to catch sight of the whale and take pictures, this made me realise how important Life and Inside Life really are, they will change people's perspective and views on nature and wildlife altogether, for the better.

Tell us something interesting you learnt?
While in Patagonia we were told of a Southern Right Whale they had found earlier that year with a big harpoon in its side. They wanted to remove the harpoon to give the poor whale some relief and also try to discover who had committed this awful crime. When they inspected the harpoon they discovered that it was really old and rusty and realised that the whale was over 150 years old!